West Valley high school girls soccer awards for 2010-11 season

Sunrise Mountain senior forward Jocelyn Jeffers player of year

The Republic's West Valley girls soccer player of the year, coach of the year and team for the 2010-11 season.

All-West Valley Girls Soccer Team

Player

Pos.

Yr.

School

Jasmine Arollo

MF

Jr.

Glendale Apollo

Rachel Caldwell

GK

Jr.

Goodyear Estrella Foothills

Kendall Fraley

MF

Sr.

Glendale Ironwood

Alexa Gannon

MF/D

Sr.

Buckeye Verrado

Jocelyn Jeffers

F

Sr.

Peoria Sunrise Mountain

Keshaun Lewis

MF

Sr.

Avondale Westview

Shay Martinez

D

Sr.

Goodyear Estrella Foothills

Kelsie Roberts

F

Jr.

Goodyear Estrella Foothills

Kaylee Shalongor

MF

Jr.

Goodyear Millennium

Ashley Stanek

D

Sr.

Surprise Willow Canyon

Karen Toro

F

Sr.

Surprise Willow Canyon

Player of the Year: Joceyln Jeffers, Peoria Sunrise Mountain.

Coach of the Year: Kathy Fox, Goodyear Estrella Foothills.

Peoria Sunrise Mountain senior Jocelyn Jeffers overheard an opponent from Avondale Agua Fria trash-talking on the field. The 17-year-old forward became determined to score and quiet the defender. The next time she received the ball at midfield, Jeffers dribbled her way around three defenders, including the talker, and scored her third goal of the game.

Her determination and skill are what make Jeffers a special player. She scored 35 goals and had eight assists, leading Sunrise Mountain (14-2-1) to the quarterfinals of the Class 4A Division I state tournament, where it lost 2-1 in double overtime to Tucson Sabino. The Republic's West Valley girls soccer Player of the Year made the sport her priority and the results show it.

"Jocelyn is a very talented soccer player," Sunrise Mountain coach Shauna Johnson said. "She's very solid in her foot skills and her shooting ability. Her all-around game is solid, which is really nice to have as a coach."

Stanford, UCLA, Long Beach State, Oklahoma, Washington State and several East Coast schools all tried to recruit Jeffers, who has a 3.61 GPA. She chose to attend Washington State because it felt like a family environment and she was already familiar with the team's assistant coach, Jason Goodson.

"As soon as I went to the college, I just fell in love with it," Jeffers said. "I just felt like that was where I was supposed to be."

Jeffers hadn't played high school soccer until this season. She previously stayed committed to playing only club ball to increase her chances of getting recruited. For her senior year, she decided to play because she had already drawn interest from colleges.

Jeffers, who Johnson described as "a goofball," had no problem adapting to her high school teammates. She would often dance in front of them while listening to her iPod just to liven up the mood.

"She's very encouraging and is very fun," senior midfielder Maddie Tado said. "She knew how to have a good time and she's got a great sense of humor so overall she's just a wonderful individual."

Jeffers will have another new set of teammates to get familiar with at Washington State. She will stay just as determined, if not more so, at the next level.

"I'm going to work on my skill, work on my technique throughout the summer so that I can start out college fresh and ready to go to hopefully be a starter on the team," Jeffers said. That's my biggest goal right now."